Sixteen Years Later.... <3

We understand one another here. 

An unspoken bond becomes crystal clear. 

You favor the F line, I’m loyal to the C. 

I sleep in Crown Heights, while you rise in Gramercy. 

You’re textured and colorful. I’m prickly and slight. 

We’re both internalizing a personal, perpetual fight. 

Boundaries don’t define us so easily here. 

Your fear has been my fear. We’re all a little queer. 

New York City is a club with an unbiased membership. 

It’s yours to survive, or give up—quit. 

We’re in this together, if we must tough it out. 

Only the strong will go on—this, I have no doubt. 

The people here, we’ve lived it. We get what it takes. 

We’re sympathetic to our neighbors, for we all need a break.

From Queens to Brooklyn, we began on the same plane. 

We are strangers, but we share more than this train. 

We’ve fought some and lost, believing we’d won. 

The burdens we face daily, they can weigh a ton. 

But we’re still here fighting, like masochists on the run. 

I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough, when I’m so very done. 

You and me, we’re the same, you see. 

Chasing a dream that may never, ever be. 

We’ll pass one another on the street.

But we may never formally meet. 

We don’t need to, for it’s already understood. 

Respect is solidified I’d tell you. Trust me, I would. 

Look for a moment and you’ll see it in my eyes. 

We share a bond here, a knowingness of such a glorious demise. 

But without hesitation, we continue to rise. 

We shall, and we will—continue to thrive.